Here in Western Australia, when the word possum is mentioned, thoughts immediately go to our common brushtail possums, or the critically endangered Western ringtail possum. Lesser known to the public are the pygmy possums of Australia, such as the Western Pygmy Possum (pictured at the end of the article - photo taken at Perup, Western Australia).
The Western Pygmy Possum (Cercartetus concinnus) is a small, largely nectarivorous marsupial, found across much of southern Australia including south-western Australia (which is also a biodiversity hotspot!). Despite being relatively widespread, populations are still poorly understood, and new discoveries in recent years suggest they may be found in more places than we know. They are a cryptic, nocturnal, and small species of marsupial growing to only around 13 g, and inhabit rather dense woodland, heath and forests, making the study and identification of these animals difficult. Despite this, they have attracted the attention of the scientific world, with one area of interest being their ability to enter an almost hibernation like state, called torpor. Torpor itself is a decrease in physiological activity of an animal usually in response to a reduction in ambient temperature, and/or food availability. Unlike hibernation however, many animals, including the Western Pygmy Possum utilise torpor throughout various seasons, not just during winter. Turner & Geiser (2017) utilised laboratory studies to better understand the drivers of torpor in the pygmy possum. Although food availability is often seen as a driver to enter torpor, Turner & Geiser (2017) found that photoperiod (day-length) may have been a more important environmental cue, and that Western Pygmy Possums may undertake torpor as part of their everyday energy budgeting regardless of food availability. So it seems, just like us, the Western Pygmy Possum love a good snooze! Further reading
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By Diana Prada PhD Candidate School of Veterinary and Life Sciences Murdoch University [email protected] Bats are amazing creatures as they are the only mammals capable of true flight. Unlike flying foxes, microbats eat only insects and use echolocation to find their prey and navigate their surroundings. They emit a high-frequency call, listen for the echo and depending on how quickly they hear it back; they can tell the distance to objects. The fact that they are small, nocturnal and, most of their calls are non-audible to the human ear, make them secretive, and easily missed. These may be some of the reasons many people are unaware that we have these creatures living in the forest and cities of the South West of Western Australia. I am bat obsessed. I have been studying microbats for the last couple of years. I often find myself looking for them in the summer evenings. Dusk is prime bat time. There are 13 species of microbats in the South West Botanical Province, my region of interest. The southern forest bat (Vespadelus regulus) is the smallest of them all (top image). It weighs 5 gr, as much as an A4 piece of paper and his body hardly the length of a thumb. The white striped free-tail bat (Austronomus australis) is the largest at around 40gr (see image below), it is as long as an adult’s hand, it has white markings along the inside of its torso, and the "click, click" of its call can be easily heard at night. The most special of all bats in the region is the false western pipistrelle (Falsistrellus mackenziei) (image at end of blog). This species is unique as it is only found in the Jarrah forest of the South West of WA, and it weighs about 20gr. As remarkable as they are, we know very little about microbats of the South West of WA. Since they are capable of flight, we assume that they can cover long distances. However, we do not know this for sure. We also do not know whether females and males disperse at equal rates and we hardly know of health conditions that may affect their persistence. I am using DNA based technologies to address these questions. By looking at different parts of their genetic make-up, and comparing different populations, there is a lot we can tell about bats. We can determine whether the lack of natural vegetation is interfering with their capacity to travel between forest patches or whether they prefer to find a mating partner within their region or further afield. For those interested in spotting bats, you can look for them near dams or lakes. At times, you may see them hunting insects near street lights. Near Perth, Dwellingup and Dryandra are great places for bat spotting. In Dwellingup, bats can be easily seen flying between the lights in the town's private campground, and in Dryandra you will need to stand by one of their many dams. If you are lucky, you may even be able to see a numbat during the daytime. Further reading:
Note - All photos in this article belong to Diana Prada |
AuthorMy name is Garry and I am extremely passionate about the environment. I have completed my BSc. Conservation and Wildlife Biology with First Class Honours and have worked in the Environment sector since 2009. Archives
September 2019
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Photos used under Creative Commons from sean.kelleher1, BioDivLibrary, BioDivLibrary